Sterling rises versus dollar for second session

Sterling rose against the dollar in American trade away from January 17 lows, following earlier data from Britain and the US, including Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech. 

As of 04:39 GMT, GBP/USD rose 0.43% to 1.3898 from the opening of 1.3837, with an intraday high at 1.3924, and a low at 1.3833. 

Earlier UK data showed consumer prices shrank by 0.5% in January, compared to December's 0.4% rise, and beating expectations of a 0.6% decline, while rising 3% on a yearly basis, also beating forecasts of 2.9%. 

Core consumer prices accelerated to 2.7% y/y from 2.5% in December, beating estimates of 2.6%, while output Producer Prices rose 0.1%, and input PPI rose 0.7%.   

The UK House Price Index accelerated to 5.2% y/y from 5.0% in November, beating expectations of 4.9%. 

Otherwise, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester spoke about the economic outlook and monetary policy at the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Breakfast, while the NFIB Small Business Index rose to 106.9 from 104.9 in December, beating expectations of 106.2. 

Jerome Powell said the Fed is continuing its policy tightening and will remaining cautious on any risks on financial stability, adding that the global economy is recovering strongly, while the monetary policy isn't offering enough well-spread support yet for labor and inflation, even though they're quite close to their targets.